Falling Hard for You
by EmilyHawley
Summary: *WARNING MoA SPOILERS* While Percy and Annabeth fall, they try to make up for the time they had lost. Talking, telling stories, and joking around, they become closer than they ever thought possible. Yes, there is a little bit of Percabeth in here, but its definitely not a "lovey-dovey" story.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus. I don't usually post stories, but because of the way that Mark of Athena ended (not telling :P), I had to. I guess its closure or something... Anyways, I hope you enjoy. If you think I should write a continuance, just tell me in your reviews:)**

**Happy reading!**

As they fell, Percy could hear nothing except for Annabeth's labored breathing. It was darker than he could possibly believe, and he couldn't see his girlfriend's face. He could feel the air rushing by, and he knew they were going fast, but for some reason everything was silent. The wind should have been roaring, but he could hear nothing. No noises other than the ones made by Percy and Annaberth. He knew that eventually they would hit the bottom of Tatarus, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to be scared. Instead, he focused on Annabeth , struggling to see her.

"How's your ankle?" he asked her.

"Still… Stuck… On… Web…" she replied through gritted teeth.

Horror struck him dumb. Of course! How could he forget the stupid web? It was the thing that caused their fall in the first place. Carefully, Percy wrapped his arm tightly around his girlfriend, trying not to lose his grip on her. With his other hand, he reached into his pocket for Riptide. Uncapping the pen, Percy made one quick chopping motion, severing the line connecting Annabeth to Arachne. The light from Riptide illuminated Annabeth's gaunt face, stained with tears and stress, her eyes squinting from the sudden brightness. She flinched when Percy accidentally brushed his foot against her injured ankle, and gripped him tighter, obviously holding back a scream.

"Tell me a story" she whispered, pain still evident in her voice.

Taken off guard by her unusual request, Percy cautiously asked her "What kind of story do you want to hear?"

"One that doesn't involve demigods falling to their death through an almost endless pit filled with monsters." She replied quietly.

Chuckling, Percy began telling her about the time some dracanae monsters had managed to sneak into his family's apartment.

"Once upon a time-"

"No fairy tales" Annabeth interrupted "I want a real life story. No 'once upon a times', no 'there's this old legend', and definitely no monsters. Just give me a story about something that happened to you, or your mom, or anyone."

He looked at her in surprise. Usually Annabeth loved myths, and history, and pretty much anything involving musty old textbooks that had been doodled in with things like "Bob was here" or "J+C=true love3". _Oh well_, he thought, _I'll just give her what she wants_.

"How about the time I made my entire class at school take a swim with some sharks?"

She nodded in approval.

"Well, I was recently kicked out of the local public school, and this was my first field trip with my new private school. They took us to this aquarium in downtown New York. When we got there, this really nice old lady took us 'behind the scenes', which pretty much meant 'you pay us money, and we'll show you all the possible angles of a giant glass bucket filled with fish that we can find". While this lady was going on and on about how many different kinds of fish sharks eat, I wandered away from the group. My classmates were walking on the retractable catwalk that hung over one of the larger aquariums, when I noticed a giant box covered in buttons. Obviously, I started pushing them" he began.

Annabeth snorted "we all know how good you are at pushing buttons…"

He let that slide. She was obviously trying to take her mind off of their impending doom.

"Well, anyways, as I was saying. I must have hit the wrong the wrong button, or something, because the next thing I know, the catwalk was splitting in half and each half was rising up, draw-bridge style. Kids were screaming and falling into the water, and the teacher'shad somehow managed to get caught on one of the rising catwalk halves, and she was screaming and kicking, trying to get down. Most of the students managed to reach the edges of the pool, but there were still 3 or so kids who couldn't swim. Luckily, they could all tread water pretty well, so they weren't drowning. I ran as fast as I could and dove into the water. Grabbing 2 of the kids, I swam, dragging them with me. When I had dropped them off at the deck, I hurried back for the other kid, but as soon as I grabbed him, he started thrashing. I tried my best to calm him down, and when that didn't work, I just pulled him to the edge of the water and pushed him out of the pool. When he was on dry land, he seemed to calm down, and was able to breathe normally. Of course, the headmaster ignored the fact that I had saved those 3 people, and I was kicked out of school by the end of the week. Of course, the teacher stayed stuck on the catwalk for a couple more hours before anyone could figure out how to get her down."

Annabeth began to giggle, which soon turned into full-out laughing, and Percy joined in.

"Ok, your turn." Percy said to Annabeth.

"What kind of story do you want to hear?"

"How about your most embarrassing moment?" he said with a devilish grin. It might have been a trick of the light from his sword, but Percy could have sworn Annabeth started to blush.

"Are you sure…? It's pretty bad…" she whispered, embarrassment flooding into her voice.

_Oh yeah, she's totally blushing_, he thought.

"I'm 100% sure that I want to hear it" He said through a grin.

"Once, when I was younger, my half-brothers were being exceptionally annoying. After a while, I got fed up with it, and I don't remember exactly what I did, but I do know it was bad. They ran to their room in tears. I woke up the next morning with the worst haircut in the history of the universe. While I was sleeping, one of my half-brothers had attacked my hair with scissors, chopping it almost all the way off. It was almost the same cut as Piper's hair, but because my hair is so curly, it looked like a bird had decided to use it as a nest. My hair that had previously been to my waist was now up to my shoulders. I had to go around with that new choppy style for months because, according to my stepmother, 'we couldn't afford to get a haircut' for me."

Laughing, Percy had to admit that her story was pretty embarrassing. He was about to tell her so, when she cut him off with a bloodcurdling scream.


	2. Chapter 2

**I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO**

**My dogs were bothering me while I wrote this chapter, so there will be hellhounds in it**

**(One of my dogs is currently attempting to eat his own foot…)**

**I'm pretty positive that I'm only going to write one more chapter (Don't have enough time!) **

**I will write more fanfics, so comment (review) your choice.**

**Pride and Prejudice or the Mortal Instruments**

**And now…**

***drumroll***

**The next chapter!**

Before Percy could react, a swirling cloud of yellow dust enveloped him and Annabeth. Every bit of bare skin that the dust touched was burning. His grip on his girlfriend loosened as the yellow dust tried to tear them apart. The last thing he felt was Annabeth slipping away from him completely.

Then he saw the visions.

In his mind, he saw Sally and Paul were being burned at the stake by the giants. He saw Piper and Jason becoming surrounded by hellhounds. In another vision, he saw Leo, Hazel, and Frank attempting to save Piper and Jason, only to become the hellhounds' next meal.

Every minute it seemed that the dust had something new to torment him with. Hours seemed to pass, and Percy might have screamed a few times, but to be honest, he wasn't completely sure. After the dust showed him a few more nasty sights, it seemed to pull back. Percy regained his vision just in time to see the last of it float away.

The relief lasted only a second, when he realized that Annabeth was still out there alone.

"ANNABETH!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, desperate to find her "ANNABETH!"

By some miracle or other, she heard him.

"Percy! I'm over here!"

He angled himself so that he would fall towards her voice. When he caught up with Annabeth, Percy wrapped both of his arms around her protectively, and she carefully nestled her head on his shoulder.

"What in Hades… was that stuff?" he asked in between attempts to catch his breath.

"That was a monster's essence. You saw the visions, right?" Annabeth asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I saw them. Do you know what kind of monster that was?" Percy asked her, even though he was pretty sure he already knew.

"It was a hellhound. When a monster returns to it essence, sometimes it will try to cover the demigod that slayed it in dust. That way, it can give the specific demigod nightmares. Of course, the nightmares are always about the slain monster and its species. I'm pretty sure what we just went through was a thousand times worse than those night horrors. You and I were just sent through a monster that has probably been down here for decades, and with all of that built up anger, I'm surprised it wasn't stronger." She said quietly.

Percy was quiet for a few minutes, content to just hold Annabeth.

After a while, he said "So, we basically just flew through monster guts."

Annabeth chuckled. Percy concentrated on that sound, trying to memorize it. He leaned over to kiss her forehead, but she pulled her head back so that he couldn't reach it.

She looked up at him, large gray eyes boring into his, as if they were trying to figure out his deepest darkest secrets.

_Gods, I love her_, he thought to himself.

Still staring at him, Annabeth slowly and quietly asked Percy one simple question.

"Why did you jump in to save me?"


	3. Chapter 3

**HEY Y'ALL! I am SOOOOOO sorry that it took forever to update! I apologize if this chapter sucks, but I write/edit/upoad my stuff all in under 2 hours usually. I'm also watching the Anvengers on top of everything else... It's kind of a fluffy chapter... oh well... I do not like fluff, but I know it's nessessary. This IS the last chapter (unfortunately). I do not have much time for writing... I'm taking my PSATs on Wednesday (I know... since when do freshmen take the PSATs?) and I have to study, so I won't be able to write until late November. I will be writing a Mortal Instruments fanfic, and it will be featuring my characters, not any of the ones listed in the book. Check my user profile during that time to read it. If you want to get to know me a little better, check out my instagram profile ( emilybrookehawley). **

**Ok I did not realize this until just now... I BROKE MY OWN RULE! I PUT FLUFF IN HERE! I am absolutely and positively sorry about that... I do NOT have time to rewrite this chapter, so suck it up and enjoy my mistake:) Check me out again soon to see my new story. **

**It contains a character named Karen and a shadowhunter who looks suspiciously like Colton Haynes;)**

**HAPPY READING:)**

ANNABETH

Her question bounced around in her mind. As soon as Annabeth saw the look on Percy's face, she began to regret asking something so stupid. Seconds passed, and then minutes. 7 minutes and 13 seconds to be exact. Not that Annabeth was counting or anything. Finally, when the silence became unbearable, she looked him in the eye.

"Why won't you answer me?" she whispered.

"I didn't answer you because I don't know how. Any way I put this, I'm going to sound like a selfish guy, or a total jerk."

"Seaweed Brain, you could never be either of those things. You're… You're the sweetest, most kind, and selfless person I know." It was hard for Annabeth to say that, not because it wasn't true, but because she as the opposite of romantic. While Percy was the fluffy one, she was the rock. Annabeth never admitted the depth of her feelings to anyone.

Percy knew that, but from his pained grimace, Annabeth could tell he didn't like what she said.

"Annabeth, don't say that. I'm not selfless. I'm not a hero, no matter what everyone says. I'm selfish, and the opposite of perfect. I make too many mistakes, and I constantly second guess myself."

"Percy, you are a hero. You saved Olympus. You stood up to Gaea. You saved me. How many guys would jump into Tartarus to save their girlfriend?"

"Annabeth!" Percy snapped. Taking a deep, and somewhat calming breath, he said much quieter "Wise Girl, I didn't save Olympus. You and Luke did. You were the one who convinced me to trust Luke, and _he_ was the one to kill Kronos. Not me. I just stood back while you two did the work. And Gaea, I never stood up to her. In fact, I asked her for help. When Hazel, Frank, and I were on our quest, I basically begged Gaea to save me. Annabeth, I jumped into Tartarus, because I couldn't lose you. You don't understand what this could mean. The world could end because I tried to save you. _To save a friend, I would sacrifice the world._

Annabeth let Percy's words sink in. She remembered the prophecy her mother had made about Percy all those years ago, and felt all the weight of the simple line. Annabeth and Percy had talked about ways to avoid this prophecy in the past, Percy stating ways that different people could tempt him into destroying the world, and Annabeth trying to help him figure ways out of the situations.

"Percy…" she began "Seaweed Brain, don't do this to yourself."

"Wise Girl, how could I not? For the last month or however long it's been, Gaea has been speaking into my ears, putting me down. Ever since I was 12, gods have been telling me that I would eventually destroy the world. What else am I supposed to believe?"

Her eyes began to water up. Quietly, she whispered "Percy, you aren't evil. You don't belong to Gaea. And no matter what, we will save the world together."


End file.
